Getty Museum
A Hollyhock
Creator
Herman Saftleven the YoungerDutch Artist · 1609–1685
All works by this person →During his lifetime, Herman Saftleven was one of Holland's best-known artists. His father and his elder brother Cornelis probably trained him. His simple, austere style appears in an early series of landscape etchings from 1627. Around 1632, Saftleven made Utrecht his home. In the following year, he collaborated with Cornelis on paintings of rustic barn interiors, a subject that later became somet
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- September 21, 1682
- Medium
- Transparent and opaque watercolor over black chalk, framing lines in black chalk
- Culture
- Dutch
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 13a0eca1-c990-4f3a-b6f6-85b7b5f470d9
This monumental watercolor depicts a hollyhock spire (Althea rosea) containing a fully opened blossom and other buds and blossoms in various states of emergence and decline. The spire "grows" magically from the blank sheet of paper, casting a shadow to the right. At its base are a few seeds and a faded blossom fallen to the ground. The florid cursive signature and date by Saftleven at the bottom left complement the arabesque sway of the hollyhock spire. Every leaf and petal seem to tingle with life, and this sense of vivid animation is heightened by the deep reds and greens of the blossoms and foliage.
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